


Bundle of Sunflowers

by stroke_of_genius



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fluff, Magic, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stroke_of_genius/pseuds/stroke_of_genius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hazel's life was becoming a bright collage of sunflowers and dresses and magic and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bundle of Sunflowers

The first thing Hazel noticed when she opened the door was that the woman on her doorstep was _not_ a child.

When she had posted a flyer on the town square bulletin offering magic tutoring, the vision in her mind was a flock of schoolchildren sitting at her feet as she instructed them on levitating teacups. And although only getting one letter taking her up on her service had narrowed that daydream down to a single little girl with chubby cheeks and bright eyes, it had been a _little_ girl nonetheless.

But unless Hazel was going crazy, the person before her was a fully-grown adult witch. No baby fat to speak of.

The second thing she noticed was that the witch was wearing the most revealing dress she had ever seen, not including the prostitutes who would sometimes stand on the side of the road, attempting to lure in customers with thick perfume and thicker lashes.

It was a dark green dress, with straps that looked too thin to ever serve any purpose somehow keeping it up and a plunging neckline that showed off the woman’s curvaceous figure. The garment flared out at her hips and stopped just above her knees, with no stockings underneath and only some black slippers on her feet.

And finally, the third thought that crossed her mind was that the witch was unusually attractive. Even with her messy hair chopped short like a man’s and her clothing simple (if revealing), the woman’s skin still shone a dark bronze and her eyes were a collage of a million different colors that seemed to shift and change whenever Hazel focused on them for too long. Everything about her was warm and inviting, which seemed at odds with her towering height and regal features.

After staring for what was probably too long, Hazel cleared her throat and tried to hide both her surprise and her blush.

“You must be Piper McLean,” she said with a smile, stepping back from the doorway so that Piper could come inside.

As she walked in, Piper spoke. “That’s me. I must admit I’m awful with names, so I’m having trouble recalling yours..?” 

“Hazel Levesque, resident witch and, well, magic instructor I suppose,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Piper stood in the center of the room, eyes scanning the small cottage and seeming to linger on the tray of tea and cookies on the small dining table. “I’m surprised at how young you are; I thought you were going to be some old grandmother with too much time on her hands.”

Hazel snorted. At least she hadn’t been the only one who didn’t expect the other’s age.

“Grandmother or not, you’re still my student.” She stepped in between Piper and the food, forcing the other witch to tear her eyes away and look at Hazel. “So let’s begin.”

 

* * *

 

Piper was even worse at magic than Hazel had expected. She might as well be teaching a child, for all Piper complained and got distracted. Still, it had become a habit for Hazel to invite the woman to stay over after the lesson for lunch and tea. Her company was much more enjoyable when she wasn’t grumbling about water spells and her wand not liking her. One afternoon, Hazel asked her about her wardrobe.

“I’ve been wondering, why do you dress that way?”

Piper paused, a cup of coffee halfway to her smiling lips. (She hated tea, so Hazel had gone out and bought coffee for whenever she was over. A waste of money, but it has been worth it to see her face light up when Hazel told her.)

“Why Hazel, whatever do you mean?”

She flushed a bit, purposefully focusing on the woman’s face instead of the immodest blue dress she was wearing that day and the wonders it did for her already shapely proportions. “You’re perfectly aware of what I mean.”

Piper laughed, and set down her cup. She met Hazel’s golden eyes with her own kaleidoscope ones, narrowing them into a fierce expression. “Because it’s comfortable and freeing and nobody can tell me what to do. I may get laughed at or chastised or even kicked out of places, but no silly idea that everyone seems to have agreed on except for me is ever going to make me do something I don’t want to.” She picked up her cup once more and took a long sip. “And that’s that.”

 

* * *

 

Later that night, while Hazel was drifting off to sleep, she had the thought that it wasn’t just Piper’s appearance that made her shine and glow.

She dreamt of laughing into soft lips and gentle kisses.

 

* * *

 

It was Sunday, so Piper didn’t have lessons scheduled. Hazel was using the time to enchant the broom to sweep the dirt and crumbs off the floor and out into the front lawn through the open doorway. Rags were washing the windows and a knife was chopping the ingredients to a salad into chunks before they flew into a large bowl. Hazel’s familiar Nico was curled up on the couch, napping lazily, the light from the midday sun filtering through the window to glint off his soft black fur and velvety ears.

Hazel heard footsteps and turned, surprised to see Piper standing outside the open doorway with a bundle of cut sunflowers in her arms.

“Piper? I’m sorry, I could have sworn that today was sunda-”

“Oh no it is! I um, didn’t come for lessons.” She seemed a little uncomfortable, her eyes not meeting Hazel’s and instead watching the enchanted objects clean with forced interest.

“Why did you come then? Do you need something?” Hazel waved her hand, freezing all of the moving objects in place. Piper didn’t say anything at first- just looked down at her bouquet of sunflowers and shifted them in her arms, holding them out towards Hazel a bit.

“Well there was this sale on sunflowers in the market, and I know that they’re your favorite what with you putting vases of them on every possible surface, and considering all the meals we’ve had that you didn’t charge me for it was the least I could do to repay you at least a little bit…” She seemed to realize she was rambling, and cleared her throat. “They’re for you, as thanks for everything you’ve done.” Hazel got the feeling there was something else Piper wanted to say, but she took the flowers graciously, a grin spreading across her face.

She laid the flowers on the counter for the time being, reminding herself to put them in some water later. Then she turned back to the flushed Piper and enveloped her in a hug, standing on her tiptoes so that her face wouldn’t be in Piper’s chest. Hazel smiled into her shoulder, breathing in her scent of grass and flowers and the faintest whiff of magic that all witches had. She let the hug linger, both to show her gratitude and to take advantage of the excuse to be so close to Piper, before stepping away, a faint warmth in her cheeks.

“Thank you, Piper.”

Piper smiled back, running a hand through her tangled hair. “I’m glad you like them. Sorry again to bother you on your day off from me, but I didn’t want to risk the flowers wilting. I’ll let you b-”

“Actually, would you like to stay for dinner?” Hazel wasn’t sure where the question came from, it had just blurted from her mouth without her even thinking about it. That wasn’t to say her heart didn’t beat faster when Piper’s smile grew a little bigger and she nodded.

“I’d love to.”

 

* * *

 

It was becoming difficult for Hazel to remember a time where Piper _wasn’t_ always around. Somewhere along the way the magic tutoring had stopped, and Hazel went back to taking more odd jobs and selling her baked goods to compensate. But Piper didn’t leave, much to her relief. The older witch (who Hazel had learned was older when Piper mentioned her twenty-third birthday coming up- Hazel made a caramel cake to celebrate and was almost positive she saw Piper cry when she took a bite) was there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She went on trips to the market with Hazel, took odd jobs with Hazel, spent nights on Hazel’s couch. That wasn’t to say Piper was the only one guilty- Hazel herself had gone over to the other woman’s house plenty of times, usually with a large plate of cookies in hand.

They had integrated themselves into each other’s lives seamlessly, and the lonely cracks in Hazel’s life had been filled with fiery rants about society and colorful dresses that didn’t seem all that strange anymore.

Over time, the two had become comfortable with each other’s touch and presence. Hugs, nudges, holding hands, and other interactions that may have once been strange or foreign were commonplace. But every time Piper held her face or grabbed her hand to drag her somewhere, Hazel thought about how easy it would be to just get a little closer…

It turned out she wasn’t the only one.

Hazel had been walking along a stream next to Piper in comfortable silence. They did this a lot, when there wasn’t anything to be said, just soaking in the other’s presence. Hazel slid her hand into Piper’s, and wasn’t all that surprised when the other witch turned and grabbed Hazel’s other one. They had developed a sort of game recently to see who could out-touch the other one. Someone might take the other’s hand, so the other would kiss it, so the first person would wrap the second in a hug, and so on and so forth. Usually it ended with the two of them cuddling together somewhere.

What _did_ surprise Hazel was when Piper rested her face against Hazel’s own, foreheads and noses touching. Hazel’s pulse quickened when she saw how close Piper's full lips were, how if she raised her chin even the slightest bit they would meet her own.

Piper began to speak, and Hazel wasn’t sure whether to look at her velvet lips or glowing skin or iridescent eyes or the little strands of dark hair that would curl up around her chin or-

“I feel like you should know that I like you quite a lot.” Piper said it in a quiet voice, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes intense as if she were sharing a secret.

Her eyes then, that’s where Hazel would look. Her eyes that could never settle on which color to be and seemed like a million different hues all constantly fighting for dominance. Eyes that seemed to peer into Hazel’s soul and know more than even she did about herself.

“Then you should probably know that I _love_ you quite a lot.”

Hazel wasn’t sure what compelled her to say it. Maybe she just got too used to the game and didn’t want to be outdone. Whatever the reason, a weight seemed to lift off her chest when Piper’s eyes widened and she began giggling, laughing and laughing until her lips met Hazel’s and the entire world felt like it was made out of magic. Magic and coffee and bouquets of sunflowers and pretty sundresses and messy hair and a fire that would burn down any who challenged it.

  
It felt like it was Piper and it felt like it was love.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little fic I wrote for pjo femslash week, which I'm also modding. Comment and kudos are always greatly appreciated, and thank you for reading!


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